Chinese VC firm buys ByteDance shares at $480b valuation

Chinese venture firm Capital Today has acquired a stake in ByteDance at a valuation of US$480 billion, according to sources cited by Bloomberg.

The transaction, which saw Capital Today purchase equity from Bank of China Group Investment, involved a payment of about US$300 million.

ByteDance, based in Beijing, is the parent company of TikTok and several other major digital platforms.

The deal marks a notable rise from ByteDance’s recent internal share buyback, which valued the company at around US$330 billion in September.

Aggressive bidding in the auction pushed the valuation higher, reportedly due to the rarity of such a large secondary sale of ByteDance shares.

Earlier this year, investors like SoftBank and Fidelity valued ByteDance at over US$400 billion.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

The $480B secondary valuation and Capital Today’s buy align with deals for a U.S. joint venture set to close on January 22, 2026, one day before the non-enforcement deadline under the divest-or-ban law 1 2. Oracle is an enterprise software and cloud provider; Silver Lake is a technology-focused private equity firm; MGX is a vehicle formed for this transaction 1 2.
ByteDance keeps 19.9% of the U.S. entity; a new investor group holds 50%; affiliates of certain existing ByteDance investors take 30.1%; the setup targets compliance with the 20% foreign adversary cap 1.
If the joint venture closes and avoids a U.S. ban, it would reduce regulatory risk for TikTok’s U.S. business, which has over 170 million American users 1. If the deal fails, ByteDance’s valuation could slip because U.S. access matters to TikTok’s operations.

Bank of China Group Investment is the direct investment arm of Bank of China 2. It sold shares to Capital Today at a $480B valuation; large Chinese institutions can supply secondary blocks to Forge, Nasdaq Private Market and UpMarket 2 3 4 5. These platforms run marketplaces for private stock 3 4 5.
Managers see a 45% jump from an internal buyback near $330B in September to a $480B secondary valuation 2. Oracle rose 5% after hours on the news, which supports blended public and private portfolios using Oracle shares with ByteDance stakes 6.